There's More Than One Way To Send A Message
by BregoArodShadowfax
Summary: Tamaki loves Haruhi. At least, he's pretty sure he loves Haruhi. So why does a midnight visit to the school to retrieve a forgotten book leave him questioning what should have been such a simple and solid fact? Tamaki/Kyouya


**Hello, all :)**

**I realize that I haven't written/posted anything Ouran-based in a long time, but it took a request meme on lj to get me out of my writer's block and force me to do some Ouran again (thanks to shaolinqueen for the request! She wanted Tama/Kyou with the prompts unexpected and/or pain). **

**This was the result, so I hope that you all enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Ouran High School Host Club belongs to Bisco Hatori, BONES, and FUNimation. It is not mine in any way, shape or form…**

**There's More Than One Way To Send A Message**

He should have been surprised to see a light on in the music room.

After all, it _was _nearing midnight.

But for some strange reason, he wasn't. Maybe it was because he knew that there was only one person who could still be at Ouran at this hour, and maybe it was because he and his best friend have had a burning need to sit down and hash some things out for far too long, now.

Sometimes it felt like they didn't speak at all anymore, and while he attributed part of it to his new-found love of Haruhi, it didn't mean he should neglect the most important _man _in his life because of it.

He burst through the door, trilling, "Kyou…" before he noticed that the younger teen was fast asleep, slumped over a table with his head resting on the pages of a notebook, his laptop computer blinking a white-blue glow in the half-light.

"_Mon ami, _you work too hard," Tamaki sighed and said in an undertone before moving closer, studying his friend in the silence. Kyouya looked so much younger asleep; the premature frown lines between his eyebrows were smoothed away and the perpetually indifferent mask he always wore was taken off, leaving just a simple teenager in its place. Tamaki smiled a little at the mental analogy before moving closer, setting his hands on his friend's shoulders and starting to gently massage them.

He was right; he _hadn't _been spending nearly enough time with Kyouya. Tamaki was one of the only people the dark-haired boy would let his guard down around, and he could tell by feeling the massive knot between his friend's shoulders that Kyouya was under a lot of strain.

Glancing down at the notebook, he saw a lot of numbers and figures he hardly recognized, and chalked it up to being more budgeting for the Club.

He was lucky, really, that Kyouya was willing to do it, or else he was sure they would have run out of money long ago. After all, it was rather obvious the school only allowed the Club to continue because he was the Superintendent's son.

Starting to knead the dark-haired teen's shoulders gently, he yawned and blinked his eyes blearily at the grandfather clock in the corner. 11:50. So he was right; it _was _almost midnight. Kyouya made a pleased sound deep in his throat, obviously still fast asleep.

"Kyouya?" he said softly, getting a sleepy murmur in return, and he smiled gently at his friend. "_Kaasan, _you have to wake up." He normally wouldn't dare wake Kyouya when he was sleeping, but he had a pretty clear idea that a Kyouya who woke up after spending a night slumped over a table at school would be even worse than a normal morning-Kyouya.

And morning-Kyouya was a demon, so he could only imagine how much worse it could be.

"Go 'way, Tamaki," Kyouya muttered, sounding adorably half-asleep. "What time is it?"

"Almost midnight."

"Why are you at my house?" Kyouya was waking up rapidly now, and Tamaki sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I'm not, Kyouya. You're still at the school."

"What?" Slate-grey eyes slid open as Kyouya blinked, glaring blearily down at the notebooks he'd fallen asleep on. "Why are you here?"

Ever practical, Tamaki thought with a sigh. "I forgot one of my books that I wanted to look over. I saw a light on in the music room and came up to see what was going on," he should have anticipated the other teen would be slightly grumpy, and he moved to withdraw his hands.

"Don't," Kyouya said firmly. "Just…keep doing that."

Tamaki nodded and did, slender pianist's fingers gently kneading the tightness between the dark-haired boy's shoulders. "Feel good?"

"Yeah. Thanks," he added after a moment, the silence hanging thickly between them.

"I was thinking, Kyouya…we should hang out sometime. It's been forever since…" Tamaki trailed off, not knowing how to end it. _Since when? Since I started paying more attention to Haruhi? Since I started competing with Hikaru? Since I realized that I'm in love? _"Anyway, are you free on the weekend? There's this commoner's mall that I've always wanted to go to: it's an outlet mall, and they have the most amazing…" he continued to talk, animatedly waving one hand through the air every so often and trying to gauge the reaction on Kyouya's face.

Instead of his usual annoyance at Tamaki's seeming inability to shut up, however, the blonde caught something else in his eyes; something that a normal person wouldn't have been able to, but under the façade of mild irritation and indifference, there was a type of hurt as well. It was gone so quickly that Tamaki would probably never be sure if he had imagined it or not, but he made note of it just in case it ever became important.

000

Kyouya was in turmoil, and by the slight tightening of Tamaki's hands and the almost-imperceptible stutter in his soliloquy, he was sure the other teen knew, and he was cursing himself for it.

Had he missed Tamaki?

That went without saying. The boy had opened him up to a world that he never could have known existed; challenged him in so many ways and with so many words to just be _himself _and not whomever his father wished him to be; showed him that there was more to life than numbers and figures and reputation; introduced him to friends; stood by him through everything; and made him fall in love.

He was quite sure it was love. There was no other reason to explain this irrational jealousy of Haruhi otherwise. He quite liked the girl; she was brilliant and intuitive in a way that none of the other Host Club members could match, but she was becoming a nuisance. She was throwing a rift in their perfectly-formed club, and the worst part was that it wasn't even _her fault, _but it left him on the outside, just watching.

The only person who understood how he felt was Kaoru, and while he had never admitted to the younger twin how much Tamaki ignoring him was affecting him, the other teen had instinctively known.

"_Senpai, if you love him, just tell him. What's the worst that could happen?"_

Kaoru's intelligent words rang in his head, and while he acknowledged the truth of them (Tamaki was as flamboyant and accepting as they came; he was quite sure that confessing his love would hardly cause revulsion on the part of the older teen), perhaps he was merely too proud to admit to himself that he was a coward.

He wasn't afraid to tell Tamaki because of _Tamaki's _reaction.

He was afraid to tell Tamaki because of his own.

"Kyouya?" Tamaki's mild voice (he had stopped gushing over the outlet mall nearly a minute ago) intruded into his thoughts. "What is it? Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"It's nothing, idiot," Kyouya waved the blonde off and stood, turning and looking at Tamaki for the first time since he had entered the room. The moonlight coming through the large windows framed him in silhouette, only a halo of gold and a slight sparkle of vibrant amethyst eyes were visible in the lanky shadow. "I'm going to sleep."

"Here?"

"I've lost enough hours already. By the time I get home, I'll just have to get up again," Kyouya said logically, slipping out of his jacket and sliding off his tie before kicking his shoes off and going to lay on one of the large sofas.

"O-okay," Tamaki's shoulders visibly slumped before he padded over. "Hey, _Kaasan? _Can I stay with you?" it was quiet, as if Tamaki was trying to figure out if he was crossing lines that shouldn't be crossed anymore, but Kyouya wasn't going to complain.

If this was the only way he ever got Tamaki close to him again…

"Yeah, _Tousan. _If you want to," he removed his glasses and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way up at his friend, and Tamaki visibly brightened before flopping down on the couch (on top of Kyouya, but that was only predictable, after all). He shifted them so that his head was tucked under Kyouya's chin before sliding his arms around the slender teen's body.

"G'night, Kyouya," he finally said, pulling his head up enough to look at the shorter teen.

Kyouya met his eyes and his mind was once again drawn to Kaoru's words and the look on his face; a type of proud, wistful happiness to his smile that Kyouya had confided something so important to him that was mirrored in his slanted golden eyes. But Kyouya was never really good at point-blank _telling _his feelings regardless, so perhaps he just had to send his message in a different way.

Admittedly, his brain informed him a few seconds later, _kissing Tamaki was _not _the greatest way to go about it, _but while he had expected Tamaki to possibly accept it, he _never _would have counted on Tamaki returning the now not-so-chaste kiss, because there was tongue involved now, and just because the man was half-French did _not mean he should know how to French-kiss this well. _

Kyouya broke the contact of their mouths, as much as he was reluctant to, because he knew deep down that Tamaki didn't love him in that way. Not like he loved Haruhi, and he valued his friend's happiness more than he could ever begin to say. Tamaki didn't need to be confused by this, and so he forestalled the inevitable flood of words from the blonde and merely pulled him down to rest on his chest again. "Sleep well, Tamaki," he said vaguely, determined to fall asleep as quickly as possible so as to avoid thinking too hard about what he had just done.

He could figure it out in the morning.

000

Tamaki found sleep much harder to come by. To say that he hadn't known Kyouya liked him would have been a lie. He may have been particularly dense when it came to relationships, but Kyouya wasn't the type to ever act altruistically, and when it came to Tamaki he would never hesitate.

That said something big; something that, as far as Kyouya was concerned, there was a little more than just 'best friends' connecting them.

So no, the kiss hadn't surprised him that much.

The fact that he'd started making out with the other boy?

Yeah, that was kind of surprising. His heart was still thudding in his ears as he heard Kyouya's breathing even out and he knew his friend was asleep.

He loved Haruhi. Didn't he?

Wasn't that why he was trying to hard to win her over?

He wasn't concerned about Hikaru ever hurting her; he could tell the older twin was infatuated, and despite his occasional bad humor and outbursts of childishness, Hikaru had a good heart.

So why was he trying so hard to keep them apart if he didn't want her for himself?

His hands clenched in the fabric of Kyouya's shirt as he closed his eyes, trying to just sleep.

Just sleep and let the daylight give him the answers he was looking for, because otherwise it was going to drive him crazy.

He loved Haruhi.

He knew he loved Haruhi.

So then, what was Kyouya? His best friend, certainly, but how did he feel about him?

Did he really…

_Could _he really…

He fell asleep before he finished the thought, and the last things he knew before sleep claimed him were that, in that moment, he felt comfortable and safe.

And above everything else, he felt _wanted, _and maybe the answer he was looking for wasn't as far away as he had originally thought.

**Ah, I've been writing so much One Piece stuff lately that getting back into Ouran-world was a bit of a culture shock, but I like the way that this came out! **

**I love reviews, too, so if you feel so inclined…don't be afraid :D**


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